page_title: Elm Grove Stone Arch Bridge
section_title: Appearance
hierarchical_section_title: Elm Grove Stone Arch Bridge / Appearance
caption_attribution_description: English: Elm Grove Stone Arch Bridge
context_page_description: The Elm Grove Stone Arch Bridge, also known as the Monument Place Bridge, is the oldest extant bridge, built in 1817, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The bridge carries U.S. Route 40 over Little Wheeling Creek in Elm Grove. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 21, 1981.
context_section_description: The Elm Grove Stone Arch Bridge is a 3 span stone arched bridge. The bridge is constructed with solid uncoarsed limestone blocks. The bridge reaches 208 feet in length over the Little Wheeling Creek below. The middle arch spans 38 feet with two arches to either side spanning 25 feet. The arches are shaped in an ellipse pattern rather than the popular semicircular pattern for aesthetic reasons giving the bridge a "humpback" appearance.
  Original buttresses were removed in 1931 to make room for sidewalks on either side of the driving lanes. In 1953 the bridge was sprayed with gunite to reinforce and strengthen the bridge. The road has been paved with asphalt several times but has not destroyed the natural integrity in which it was designed and built in 1817.
caption: 1920 postcard of the bridge.
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